Share This Story!

Opelousas would struggle to afford complying with wastewater standards

Complying with federal wastewater disinfection standards for a municipal treatment facility will be a costly venture, one the city might struggle to afford, the Opelousas Board of Aldermen was told on Tuesday night.

Opelousas would struggle to afford complying with wastewater standards

Opelousas City Engineer William Jarrell addresses the Opelousas Board of Aldermen on Tuesday night to explain the costs of upgrading the municipal wastewater treatment plant.(Photo: Freddie Herpin/Daily World)

Complying with federal wastewater disinfection standards for a municipal treatment facility will be a costly venture, one the city might struggle to afford, the Opelousas Board of Aldermen was told on Tuesday night.

The Board has taken action on the issue, awarding the $1.56 million contract for the treatment plant improvements to Tullier Services, but that amount and additional expenses are only partially covered by a grant the city received in 2018.

City engineer William Jarrell, who addressed the board on the issue during the meeting, said the city has already received about $1.2 million in grant funding to assist with some of the costs for the improvement project.

Jarrell said Environmental Protection Agency officials have ruled that the city’s treatment plant facility off McCarthy Lane has been out of compliance for the past several years and obtaining the federal grant through efforts by the state have allowed the improvements to move forward.

However, Jarrell added there are other completion costs associated with the project that require the city to provide an additional $763,000. Jarrell estimated that the total amount for the treatment plant upgrade will eventually reach about $1.9 million.

The Board did not discuss the matter at length.

Mayor Julius Alsandor said the city will have to find ways to provide the extra money that will complete the project.

“I don’t think it would be prudent not to go ahead with the project if we don’t have the funds,” Alsandor said. "The EPA has demanded that we do the project and if we don’t come up with the entire amount, then we are going to lose the grant.

“This puts the city in a difficult position, but this is a situation that has developed over time. The EPA has said that it will continue to monitor the plant," he added, "so some way we are going to have to find additional money while we still have the ($1.2 million grant)."

Former Mayor Reggie Tatum said in a Daily World interview in April that receiving the grant has also allowed the city to operate the treatment plant without fear of receiving state fines.

Tatum added that the state has told city officials for several years that the plant needed to upgrade the cleansing of sewerage that now flows into the plant at an estimated rate of 250,000 gallons daily.

The current method of sewerage treatment is 30 years old, Tatum said.

Tatum pointed out that the current plan for treating the sewerage is an ultraviolet process, which he said state officials consider more efficient.